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Martin Luther King Jr. Academic Magnet for Health Sciences and Engineering at Pearl High School (or simply MLK Magnet) is a public
magnet A magnet is a material or object that produces a magnetic field. This magnetic field is invisible but is responsible for the most notable property of a magnet: a force that pulls on other ferromagnetic materials, such as iron, steel, nickel, ...
high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
located in
Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...
. MLK includes grades 7–12, and students enter through a lottery process similar to the other magnet schools in Nashville.


History

Pearl High School was a school for African American students. Franklin Gatewood Smith served as its principal. The school building that houses MLK was built in 1937 to house Pearl High School, an
African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
school. The building was commissioned in 1936 by the
Public Works Administration The Public Works Administration (PWA), part of the New Deal of 1933, was a large-scale public works construction agency in the United States headed by Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes. It was created by the National Industrial Recove ...
(PWA) and was designed by
McKissack and McKissack McKissack & McKissack is an American architecture, engineering, program management and construction firm based in Washington, D.C. It is the oldest minority-owned architecture and construction company in the United States. The firm was founde ...
, a prominent African-American architectural firm. The building features a red brick veneer and
Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
stylistic elements, in an architectural style commonly used by the PWA and known as
PWA Moderne The Art Deco style, which originated in France just before World War I, had an important impact on architecture and design in the United States in the 1920s and 1930s. The most famous examples are the skyscrapers of New York City including the Em ...
. The building was expanded in 1945 and 1963, again with designs by McKissack and McKissack. The school was Nashville's first secondary magnet for grades 7-12. After Pearl High moved numerous times, settling at 17th Avenue in the 1950s and eventually to its current location at
Pearl Cohn Comprehensive High School Pearl-Cohn Entertainment Magnet School (or simply Pearl High School) is a public magnet high school located in Nashville, Tennessee. History Pearl-Cohn was established in 1983 when Pearl High School and Cohn High School merged to form Pearl Coh ...
, MLK Magnet, originally named Martin Luther King, Jr. Magnet High School for the Health Sciences and Engineering, opened its doors in August 1986 at the former Pearl High with only grades 7–9, adding one grade per year until 1990 when it had its first graduating class of 25 students. A
gym A gymnasium, also known as a gym, is an indoor location for athletics. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasium". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learning spaces in educational ins ...
nasium was added to the building in 1995, designed by the Nashville architectural firm of Street, Dixon, Rick. The school's current name was adopted in 2001. The building is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
.


Student Body

MLK possesses one of the most diverse student bodies in Nashville, with a majority enrollment of 55% and an enrollment of economically disadvantaged students of 19%. Over time, the faculty and student populations have diversified, along with the changing demographics of Nashville.


Distinctions

MLK is known for its academic program, focusing on math, science, and engineering. The school also has exceptional art, foreign language, band, and orchestra programs. This academic magnet school only offers courses in Honors and Advanced Placement (AP) with the exception of physical education, certain engineering, and critical thinking courses. In addition, MLK offers the unique Practica program as well as advanced and
dual enrollment In the United States, dual enrollment (DE), also called concurrent enrollment, programs allow students to be enrolled in two separate, academically related institutions. Generally, it refers to high school students taking college or university cours ...
courses along with a partnership with the School for Science and Math at
Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...
. In the 2007–2008 academic year MLK received the Siemens Award for Advanced Placement, for one of the best scientific and math-based academic programs in the country. The school also has a renowned quiz bowl team - in 2007–2009, the school placed first at state competitions, second at the PACE national tournament in 2007, 13th at NAQT Nationals in 2007, and 7th at NAQT Nationals in 2008. In addition, the MLK Magnet Mock Trial team reached the State competition in 2009 and 2011. They placed 7th in 2011 and took home Best Advocate for the Defense, Best Defense Witness. MLK Magnet is ranked in the top 113 of
Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...
's and U.S. News & World Report's annual rankings of the top public high schools in America and 2nd overall in Tennessee. It was announced in April 2013 that First Lady
Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. She was the first African-American woman to serve in this position. She is married t ...
will be the commencement speaker for Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet School's graduation.


Enrollment

Students who want to go to MLK must have the academic requirements of 85 or above in all courses of the 1st semester. They must also receive "On track" or "Mastered" in their TN Ready Test of the previous year or current year. They can also qualify if they have good map scores of May (with grades) Head middle has a direct pathway to MLK if requirements are met, also Rosa Parks. Students can also enter a lottery if they do bot a have a pathway to MLK. (requirements must be meet as well to enter lottery) ''(School's rank within Tennessee given in parentheses)''


Sports

MLK offers a variety of sports and competes regularly, as shown by numerous awards and rankings. MLK has also won many
TSSAA The Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association (TSSAA), along with the affiliated Tennessee Middle School Athletic Association (TMSAA), is an organization which administers junior and senior high school sporting events in Tennessee. The TSSAA ...
championships.TSSAA State Records
MLK has won two state championships in boys' basketball (1991,1996) a state championship in boys' track in 2005, with Anderson Skaggs as MVP, 2009 and 2010, a state championship in boys' cross-country in 2008 and 2009, a state runner-up in boys' track in 2004, and a state championship in doubles tennis in 2007. Recently, the MLK Girls' Track Team has won TSSAA State Track Meet for three years straight, 2010, 2011, and 2012. Varsity Sports: *Boys'/girls' tennis *Baseball *Cross country *Boys'/girls' track *Ice hockey *Boys'/girls' soccer *Softball *Bowling *Cheerleading *Football (with Pearl-Cohn High School) *Golf *Mascot *Swimming *Volleyball *Wrestling *Ultimate *Ping pong Junior Varsity Sports: *Boys'/girls' basketball *Volleyball Freshmen Sports: *Boys'/girls' basketball *Track (Boys) *Volleyball Middle School Sports: *Boys'/girls' basketball *Cheerleading *Boys'/girls' soccer *Boys'/girls' track *Volleyball *Wrestling


Rivals

MLK Magnet's sports and academic rival is
Hume-Fogg High School Hume-Fogg Academic Magnet High School is a public magnet high school serving grades 9–12 and located in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, United States. History Hume School, serving the first through 12th grades, opened in 1855 on Eighth Avenue ( ...
located less than 2 miles from the school.


Notable alumni

*
Jim Gilliam James William "Junior" Gilliam (October 17, 1928 – October 8, 1978) was an American second baseman, third baseman, and coach in Negro league and Major League Baseball who spent his entire major league career with the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dod ...
, Major League Baseball player (1953-1966), 4-time World Series champion *
Cary Ann Hearst Cary Ann Hearst (born August 10, 1979) is a folk/roots rock musical artist from South Carolina, US. She performs as a solo act, as well as with her husband, Michael Trent, in the band Shovels & Rope. Hearst's influences are rooted in the soulful, ...
, musician * Les Hunter, professional All-Star basketball player, NCAA champion. *
Ted McClain Theodore McClain (born August 30, 1946) is a retired American professional basketball player. A 6'1", 180 lb (82 kg) guard from Tennessee State University, McClain played eight seasons (1971–1979) of professional basketball in the AB ...
, professional basketball player *
Dee Rees Diandrea Rees (born February 7, 1977) is an American screenwriter and director. She is known for her feature films '' Pariah'' (2011), '' Bessie'' (2015), ''Mudbound'' (2017), and '' The Last Thing He Wanted'' (2020). Rees has also written and di ...
, screenwriter *
Mageina Tovah Mageina Tovah (born July 26, 1979) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Glynis Figliola in the television series ''Joan of Arcadia'' (2003–2005), as Ursula Ditkovich in Sam Raimi's ''Spider-Man'' trilogy and Zelda Schif ...
, actress known for her role in ''
Spider-Man 2 ''Spider-Man 2'' is a 2004 American superhero film directed by Sam Raimi and written by Alvin Sargent from a story by Alfred Gough, Miles Millar and Michael Chabon. Based on the fictional Marvel Comics character of the same name, it is the ...
'' and ''
Spider-Man 3 ''Spider-Man 3'' is a 2007 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man. It was directed by Sam Raimi from a screenplay by Raimi, his older brother Ivan and Alvin Sargent. It is the final installment in Raimi's ...
'' movies as Ursula Ditkovitch and on TV show ''
Joan of Arcadia ''Joan of Arcadia'' is an American fantasy family drama television series telling the story of teenager Joan Girardi (Amber Tamblyn), who sees and speaks with God and performs tasks she is given. The series originally aired on Fridays on CBS for ...
'' as Glynis Figliola. *
Vivien Thomas Vivien Theodore Thomas (August 29, 1910 – November 26, 1985) was an American laboratory supervisor who developed a procedure used to treat blue baby syndrome (now known as cyanotic heart disease) in the 1940s. He was the assistant to surgeon A ...
, who helped to develop surgical techniques to treat
blue baby syndrome Blue baby syndrome can refer to conditions that cause cyanosis, or blueness of the skin, in babies as a result of low oxygen levels in the blood. This term has traditionally been applied to cyanosis as a result of: #Cyanotic heart disease, whi ...
and was subject of documentary "Partners of the Heart," attended Pearl High School in 1920s *
Clay Travis Richard Clay Travis (born April 6, 1979) is an American writer, lawyer, radio host and television analyst. As a sports journalist, Travis founded ''OutKick''. As a political commentator, he and Buck Sexton host ''The Clay Travis and Buck Sexto ...
, analyst for Fox Sports *
Perry Wallace Perry Eugene Wallace Jr. (February 19, 1948 – December 1, 2017) was an American lawyer who was a professor of law at Washington College of Law. He was the first African-American varsity athlete to play basketball under an athletic scholarship in ...
, first African American SEC basketball player * Gerald Robinson, professional basketball player for AS Monaco Basket


References


External links


MLK Magnet Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin Luther King Magnet At Pearl High School Public high schools in Tennessee Schools in Nashville, Tennessee Magnet schools in Tennessee Public middle schools in Tennessee PWA Moderne architecture Public Works Administration in Tennessee